Last time I talked about Dark Angels was back in May, while we knew the new Dark Angel codex was around the corner it still hadn’t dropped. It was then I took the old Dark Angels to the Guardian Cup GT in Portland and ended up going 3-1-1, not bad for a underpowered dex. Fast forward today, I am about to play in my first tournament using the new rules in beautiful San Diego at Game Empire.

This leads me to talking the changes I made to my list and my new expectations for the army. Here is what my army list looked like before the new codex.

TastyTaste’s Dark Angels & Sisters

Since I live in California I primarily play in ITC events meaning army construction will continue to follow their guidelines. Still, as you can imagine, I have to make a lot of changes. 

If I wanted to base my new list off my old list, which forced me with three major dilemmas to overcome. The first and biggest is losing Objective Secured Ravenwing Bikes. The ability to get maelstrom and standard victory points many times relied on those bikes sneaking in and doing work. The second, was losing the Powerfield Generator, this little piece of wargear saved my Ravenwing Command Squad many times, without it I become very susceptible to S10 and various other attacks. The last dilemma is the change to Rad Shell on the Ravenwing grenade launcher.

So, deal with these problems and present new problems for my opponents I came up with these changes. Here take a look…

TastyTaste’s New Codex Dark Angels ITC List

The first change was switching the Dark Angel Libby Conclave for the Space Marine one. This would take up one of my source slots, but it is worth the new goodies and all Libby Bikes I could take. I chose the Iron Hands Chapter Tactics, because beyond all Space Marine Librarians getting Biomancy, having improved Feel No Pain, and the ability to regenerate wounds is pretty filthy. I also could take artifacts from the Clan Raukaan Supplement.

The next change was adding in the Ravenwing Support Squadron Formation. This deadly combination of Speeders and Dark Shroud gives me answers to many things. Just having Strafing Run and Interceptor would be enough, but Overwatching Vehicles is just gravy. The key though is the Dark Shroud which beyond the formation rules, denies Overwatch and provides stealth to nearby units. More importantly, the Dark Shroud is hidden nicely attached to the  Speeders. 

These changes meant I had cut out the Ravenwing Bikes, since the army core continued to use a Combined Arms Detachment. I also had to remove the Sisters because I couldn’t take four sources. To make up for the lose of Objective Secured I added in another Tactical Squad that I can Combat Squad. This means my Bike Command has to a lot of work removing all opposing Objective Secured units I face. I kept Azrael in because he still has enough abilities to be useful, and Ezekiel stays because his new +1 attack bubble makes even Tactical Marines dangerous. My new list does rely heavily on the Ravenwing Jink re-roll, at worse get 3+ cover save re-roll, along with Feel No Pain from the Apothecary for the Command and 2+ 4+ for the Speeders.

It is still imperative I get Invisibility if I am facing No Cover armies, and Forewarning to make up for the loss of the Power-Field Generator. With the change to the Rad Shell I wasn’t reducing high Toughness units anymore, so try to make up for it by taking Melta-bombs. Melta-bombs provide great offensive against Monstrous Creatures; as well as Imperial Knights, and all those free Marine transports.

The interesting thing about the new Dark Angels is lots of things work in tandem. The Ravenwing Support Formation buffs other units and protects against Alpha Strikes. Ezekiel bonus attack bubble works with all Dark Angel units, and Azreal provides his leadership for all, along with bonuses to seizing the initiative. I also have the Ravenwing Command Banner just to make sure I pass all my LD and Hit & Run tests. The hardest counter to my army is mass scoring units, I just don’t have enough units to kill everything unless my Deathstar gets rolling. Then there is also a little problem with Culexus Assassins…

This weekend event will be good practice and I will see what tweaks I need to make going forward, either way I am up for the challenge.